Ron and I were both off Sunday, so we spent the afternoon working on No. 64 on my 101 Things list, which is “Visit every attraction listed for Oklahoma on roadsideamerica.com.”
We headed over to Guthrie and then Kingfisher to cross a few attractions off our list. Here’s what we found along the way:
1. Grave of Elmer McCurdy the sideshow mummy in Guthrie.
2. Another occupant of Guthrie’s own Boot Hill.
3. Blue Belle Saloon in downtown Guthrie, where Tom Mix once tended bar. The saloon was closed Sunday, but the exterior looks great — very historic.
4. The State Capital newspaper office (now a museum, which was also closed Sunday), catty-corner from the Blue Belle Saloon.
5. A steel box inside this tiny jail across from the old newspaper office was set up to take donations for the Guthrie Gunfighters Association, which sometimes holds Wild West shootout re-enactments nearby.
6. Guthrie’s Beacon Drive-In, featured in the movie Twister.
7. Statue in Kingfisher. The base and a plaza surrounding the statue were under construction, and no interpretive materials were available to help us figure out who this guy might be.
8. Sam Walton’s disembodied head, torso, and arms floating above a statue of his famous bird dog, Ol’ Roy, in front of the recently constructed Wal-Mart Supercenter in Kingfisher. I don’t know where Sam’s legs are. Maybe Ol’ Roy ate them. They’re probably more nutritious than Ol’ Roy’s namesake dog food….
9. Some of the plants I bought at a little nursery in Guthrie. I think the place was about to close when we got there, but I made it worth their while to stay open another 10 minutes — I wound up spending just over $50 for three ranunculus, three gerbera daisies, two hibiscus, 10 strawberries, and a small pot each of chives, basil, and sage, and the owner and I had a nice conversation while she rang up my purchases. I’m looking forward to planting those strawberries. I hope the ground beetles leave them alone this time….
Hope your weekend was good and your Monday was even better.
Emily
Red Fork Hippie 